Redemption
by Insane Elven Pirate
Summary: Aang and Zuko's last conversation during the final battle.


**Title: Redemption**

**Rating: PG **

**Summary: The last conversation between Aang and Zuko during the final battle.**

**Author's notes: Despite the fact that it too deals with the Gaang after the final battle, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with my WIP fic, A World Broken. Which I haven't forgotten about, by the way. I'm about 75 done with chapter two.**

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They were surrounded. Everywhere they turned, someone was blocking their escape, the room was alight with fire from the fighting, and with each second it was growing hotter and brighter and there was nowhere they could run. They were surrounded.

They stood back to back, shielding each other from the enemy that encircled them. For protection against the suffocating panic that was welling up inside them, they had only each other.

Aang closed his eyes. Somehow, this was all his fault. Zuko had already defeated Azula, yet he, _The Avatar_, couldn't get to the firelord. There had been too many soldiers, too much defense. Zuko had joined him in his efforts to get to Ozai, but the both of them had been outmatched by sheer numbers. And now there was nothing they could do. They were trapped.

"Aang?" Aang's stomach twisted at the word, uttered in a voice barely above a whisper and layered with false confidence. Never once had Zuko used his name. He had always called him 'The Avatar', or 'Kid'. Never 'Aang'. Until now.

"Yeah?" He responded, fearing the worse. He knew that if Zuko felt like there was nothing they could do... No way to survive... Aang pushed the thought from his mind. Better to hear what Zuko had to say before he fell apart.

"I can give you ten minutes," The phrase was uttered quietly, and had Aang not had his back pressed against Zuko's he would have missed it. Yet, despite it's volume, it seemed to thunder in Aang's ears, with the sheer weight of what Zuko was suggesting he do.

Aang shook his head, even though he knew Zuko couldn't see it, "No," his voice came out weak and cracked, and, feeling ashamed at how pathetic it sounded, he had to force the word out again, "No. I'm not leaving you."

Zuko spoke, keeping his voice calm and level, "You know there's no other way. We can't both make it out of here, and..." Zuko's voice began to waver and he paused to swallow audibly, before continuing, "...and if one of us makes it out of here, it has to be you."

At first Aang had wondered how Zuko could do this so calmly. How he could talk about death with the same tone he might use when commenting on the weather. But soon, he realized Zuko was anything but calm. He listened to his friend's breathing, the way he was forcing himself to take deep even breaths, the way the air would catch in his throat, making little gasping sounds, and he knew that Zuko was terrified. With his back pressed against the older bender's, Aang could feel the Zuko's body trembling, and Aang wondered at how it was even possible for him to maintain such a calm facade at all.

Aang frantically searched his mind for another option, "But..." his voice was desperate and a choked sob escaped his lips.

Zuko cut into his feeble protests, "_You're_ the one that needs to defeat my father. Not me, _you_. You know that."

Of course he knew. He'd always known. "I can't let you die for me..." He mumbled weakly, fighting to restrain the tears that were threatening to spill, "You can't Zuko... I just..."

"I've been living all my life for the wrong reasons: for the glory of the fire nation, for capturing you, for regaining my honor... If I'm going to..." Zuko paused and took a deep, shaky breath, "If I'm going to die..." He started again, and Aang could hear the effort he was putting into keeping his voice strong, "Then I at least want it be for the right reasons. I could let you stay here and fight with me... and die with me... but it wouldn't be right..."

Aang sighed slowly. He knew Zuko was right. He knew there was no other way. He closed his eyes and the tears began to flow freely. He hurriedly wiped them away with the back of his arm "Zuko..." he trailed off, not knowing what he could possibly say.

"Aang..." from the way his voice was shaking, Aang could tell Zuko was crying too, "I'm sorry for everything I've done."

Knowing his hot-headed ally's pride, he knew it was not easy for him to seem so vulnerable in front of his pupil, but Aang did not view it as weakness. Instead, he saw it as a great strength that Zuko had finally abandoned his attempts at hiding frightened he was. It was this realization that let Aang surrender his attempts to dry his tears and just cry freely with his friend.

"No..." his own voice was wavering worse than Zuko's, "No, don't be sorry." his voice shook so badly, that the sentence ended in a shrill tone, and Aang had to clear his throat to stabilize his voice, "I've already forgiven you... We all have."

Zuko was silent for a moment, taking the information in, and when he spoke it was in a choked, sobbing whisper, "Thanks..."

The two remained silent for a moment, weeping softly, as the firebenders surrounding them sneered, unknowing of their plan and thinking their tears were for their own failure.

When Zuko cleared his throat to speak again, his voice had gained a feeling of confidence that sent a feeling of awe and pride in the older boy coursing through Aang, and he felt truly blessed to have known him. "I know you've been worried about facing my father... but I believe you can defeat him. You're the strongest bender I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

To Aang, at that particular moment, those words meant everything, and he smiled softly to himself as Zuko continued.

"Please tell the others..." Zuko stopped and for a moment Aang thought he was crying again, but as he spoke again his voice was strong, "Tell the others..." he trailed of, as if uncertain of how to say what it was he wanted Aang to tell them.

But Aang knew. "I will..." he said softly. "I will..."

As the firebender's closed in, ready to capture their prize, Zuko readied himself in a firebending stance. "Goodbye, Aang," he spoke softly. His voice had once been a source of fear for Aang, but now he came to regard it as the voice of a friend and Aang found himself marveling at how much the teen had grown in the time he knew him.

Aang assumed a similar bending stance and readied himself to run when he needed to. "Goodbye, Zuko," One last tear rolled down his cheek.

"NOW!" Zuko cried, and Aang broke out in a run, barreling through the approaching firebenders. Zuko hindered any attempts of them following, and as Aang raced down the long hall to catch the firelord and meet his destiny, he risked one final glance back at the teen who was sacrificing himself to save the world.

What he saw was something that he would never forget. In Zuko's final moments, his fire took on a new color from it's usual orange. The flames shooting from Zuko's hands were a blue so bright that they almost burned white. Aang knew that this new color wasn't a result of skill or power, but rather of something much greater. It was a result of a strength of the heart, a power which shone so bright that Zuko himself seemed to glow. For Zuko had chosen to let go of everything to save the people he loved.

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**Ok, I hope that wasn't too out of character... I hope you enjoyed it.**


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